AutoML: Google's AI is now better at machine learning than its own programmers

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Google's appropriately-named automatic machine learning AI, AutoML, is now producing better code than its own programmers.

So far there's no sign of Skynet-like aggression, thankfully, but it won't help to calm the fears of leading figures such as Elon Musk that AI is now doing a better job than humans at essentially coding itself.

AutoML is designed to be a solution to the problem of the lack of machine learning talent. The system currently works by optimising its existing code rather than adding to it.

Thousands of simulations are ran to determine where code is able to be improved. Those changes are then made and the process continues infinitely or until it reaches its goal.

The system is able to do in a matter of hours what humans can take weeks to do, and it's still early days for AutoML. As it improves, it will only get faster.

Not only is it quicker than humans, but it's also better. In an image recognition task it reached a record high 82 percent accuracy.

Even in tasks often seen as highly-complex for an AI, AutoML’s self-written code is excelling. AutoML can mark multiple points within an image with 42 percent accuracy compared to human-made software’s 39 percent.

Considering AutoML is only five months old it's extremely impressive. I'm sure there's many parents out there wishing humans were as efficient at that age.

Are you impressed with AutoML’s abilities? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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